Efficiently managing your accounts receivable (AR) is a critical part of understanding your company’s cash flow and verifying that you receive exactly what you’re owed by your customers. The documents associated with this process are important records that companies should manage strategically through an electronic records management (ERM) system.
Electronic records management is the systematic handling of electronic files and documents as records. An ERM system streamlines the process so you can enjoy the security, efficiency, and accuracy that comes when your records are managed effectively.
ERM, which may also be called digital document management, falls under the broader concept of records management — the process of creating, storing, accessing, and disposing of records methodically. Managing documents and records is an essential part of any business.
A 2018 survey by customer review and marketing platform Clutch found that a quarter of small businesses were still recording their finances on paper. For companies still dealing with paper records, the first step in implementing an ERM solution is to convert physical records into electronic files. But it doesn’t stop with simple document conversion — an ERM solution should make it easy to access the exact records you need when you need them.
Many companies today have already moved the way they create and store documents to a digital environment. However, just because you’re dealing with mainly digital records, that doesn’t necessarily mean records are automatically well organized or efficiently managed. When you need to access a record, it should be right at your fingertips, not buried and difficult to find.
A robust ERM solution can be the difference between cluttered cabinets or disorganized cloud storage drives and a well-organized, efficient system where records are securely stored and easily accessible.
What does ERM have to do with invoicing and, in particular, the automation of accounts receivable?
Consider your current process for invoicing. If you’re dealing with some paper files, some digital files, and a poorly organized system, tasks like invoice matching can become far more time-consuming and vulnerable to inaccuracies.
An effective ERM solution can improve the way you manage AR data in several valuable ways.
ERM technology makes it easy to hold onto all your AR records. Relying on a fully digital solution for all your past and current records means there’s no need for physical storage space. Instead, store files efficiently online. As of 2021, half of all corporate data is now stored in the cloud. Companies are learning just how big an improvement digital storage is over manual or hybrid solutions.
Storage is an important starting point, but simply holding onto records isn’t necessarily helpful if you can’t access the records when you need them. Thankfully, an ERM solution helps you organize records systematically. It can also make it easy to call up the information you need with a quick keyword search.
When it comes to your company’s or your customers’ financial information, responsibly maintaining this data means having security measures in place so only qualified personnel can access these records. ERM enables this by requiring users to enter the right credentials to view records online.
Document management software can even help streamline your processing of AR data. Artificial intelligence built into an ERM program can automate tasks like invoice matching, so your accounting personnel have more time for other mission-critical tasks. With modern advancements in tech, there’s no reason to burden your staff with tasks that can be automated.
Not only can software automate processing, it can do so with a much lower likelihood of errors. Humans are subject to issues like fatigue and distractions that can easily lead to errors, but automated data processing removes these risks from the equation.
If you’re currently dealing with paper records, you may feel like an ERM solution isn’t feasible. For most companies, scanning and importing all your documents on your own would be an incredibly time-consuming project, and you would be left with uncategorized images that you have to manually process and organize.
If you’re ready to digitize your accounts receivable, Ripcord offers a cutting-edge solution that handles the process at scale. Our robotic system can digitize thousands of documents with industry-leading precision at 99.95 percent accuracy. Digitizing records doesn’t just mean scanning them in — it means analyzing the data with AI and ML so you can search for and process information efficiently.
With all your digitized documents in a central repository, everything now works in tandem with your enterprise content management (ECM) software or other digital document management system so all your AR data is searchable and well organized. Most importantly, the solution is repeatable and scalable, making your AR efforts that much easier. Reach out to our team to get started.